Product Description

There's a reason that eccentric newspaper columnist Cassandra Chase feels compelled to investigate the murder of Lynette Sandler. They look eerily alike---enough to be twins! Teaming up with by-the-book detective Jeff McMichaels, she reads Lynette's diary and discovers uncanny similarities between their lives. Will her fate be the same as well? 368 pages, softcover from Sheaf House.

Publisher's Description

Their faces were the same. Will their fates be as well? The uncanny resemblance between eccentric newspaper columnist Cassandra Chase and a murder victim gives Detective Jeff McMichaels the haunting suspicion that there is a link between the two women. As he is increasingly drawn to Cassie, a rash of attacks leads him to conclude that she was the murderer?'s real mark and to wonder if he can keep her alive.

Every once in a while you run across a book that holds you captive. The cover, the blurb on the back, and most especially the book. This is one of those.

In a way, Mirrored Image reminds me of Alice K Arenz, aka A.K. Arenz. As A.K. Arenz, Alice wrote cozy mysteries--the kind that keep you grinning while you read and enjoy the mystery. As Alice, it's spine-tingling, edge of the seat, keep you guessing until the last chapter writing.

Cassie Chase has a career she loves--a columnist writing light-hearted articles about whimsical happenings around the country. Her editor and friend David thought she wasted her talents, so he threw her into investigating and writing about the murder of a young woman who just happens to look amazingly like Cassie.

Even more amazing--this look-alike victim knew her editor, the publisher of the newspaper, her sister-in-law, her brother, and her editor's secretary. None of them ever mentioned this woman who so amazingly resembled Cassie.

To top that off, her house is robbed--sort of--the same day as the murder. Except instead of taking anything, the intruder sleeps in her bed. Otherwise, the house is cleaner than when she left it. Things get stranger when someone apparently wants to also do harm to her.

Cassie butts heads with a handsome policeman as separately and together they search for clues. Detective Jeff McMichaels would like to work on his own, but he finds he has to take her along to keep her safe.

Did the murderer kill the wrong person? Will she be next? Should you buy the book and find out for yourself?

This book reminds me a lot of the detective mystery tv shows I like to watch, even though it takes place in the 1980s before forensics and DNA came out. A police detective and a newspaper reporter work together to solve the mystery of who murdered the school teacher. In the process, they discover they are attracted to each other and that the reporter is in danger of becoming the next victim. Also, these two uncover a lot of small town secrets, any of which could have led to the murder.

I had never heard of this author so I decided to purchase this book after reading the description. The storyline is a very good idea, but the writing just wasn't there. I found myself going back several times to reread paragraphs. The writing was not awful but also not good. I wsn't glued to the book as I usually am with my favorite authors. She jumps around so much without doing it naturally. I found a few times while she talking to someone she then says something she doesn't want them to hear. I'm thinking why did she say that and then in the next sentence you find out the had left the room. That would have been nice to know sooner. Another time she is in her office with two other people. They are having a heated discusson then all of a sudden she calls for a taxi and leaves her office. How and when did the conversation end and when did they leave her office. I just really could not get into this book.

Like most lovers of mystery stories, I like to guess where the author is going. But from the first few chapters I found myself asking. "Where did Alice come up with all these twists and turns?" She kept me guessing until the very last page.

Author/Artist Review

Tell us a little about yourself. I have been writing since I was a child. My earliest publications were in the small, family-owned weekly newspaper where my mom and dad included some of my articles, essays, and poems. In the mid-nineties, I earned a stint with a well-known New York literary agency, and although it failed to produced the hoped-for results, God fueled my determination to become published, and eventually led me to Sheaf House.
Mirrored Image is written under my full name to differentiate the more "serious" writing from my cozy mysteries written under A.K. Arenz. The Case of the Bouncing Grandma, 2008, was a finalist in the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year contest. And this year, the second in the Bouncing Grandma Mystery Series, The Case of the Mystified M.D., won the prestigious 2010 ACFW Carol Award in Mystery!
I live in Missouri with her husband and two Himalayan cats.

What was your motivation behind this project? I'm never quite sure what my motivation is behind any of my writing projects - beyond the best motivator of all, God. This particular book was first written in 1986 - the year it's set in - and has been re-written almost every year since then . . . with my daughter Kelly's help in the the editing department. I'm horrible with commas!

What do you hope folks will gain from this project? I would like people to see that secrets can often lead to far more problems than being open and honest. Beyond that, I hope to entertain the readers.

How were you personally impacted by working on this project? I guess you could say this is one of those "books of the heart," that story that you just HAVE to tell. There was a reason God put it on my heart to continue to pull this manuscript out every year and re-work and re-write it. He knew when the best time for it's release was - when the story was really finished. And it was now.

Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? My family are my most valuable inspirations and influences after our Lord. All my inspiration comes from Him - I'm just not smart enough to write a book on my own. I KNOW that!!
Favorite authors . . . there are so many! I love Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins Ginny Aiken, Cynthia Ruchti, but I'm always drawn back to the authors that spurred my imagination when I was younger - Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt. And when I want to be scared, Dean R. Koontz.

Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: Not all of us get a chance to live our dreams . . . I know just how special and fantastic this opportunity is. And for those of you aspiring authors out there, if you feel that this is truly what God wants you to do with your life, that He is behind that driving force for you to write, then don't ever, ever give up. Keep the faith, hold onto your dream . . . hold onto the Lord.